


Trials of a Ranger

by Battler127



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Ranger
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Violence, Character Development, Characters to be added, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Humor, Headcanon, Light-Hearted, Mild Language, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Third Person, Pokemon Fanfiction, Pokemon Ranger: Vatonage | Shadows of Almia, might get dark later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:15:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25262929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Battler127/pseuds/Battler127
Summary: Kate wanted nothing more than to be a Pokemon Ranger, it’s been her dream since she was a little kid and she would do anything to achieve it. Will she succeed in her dream or will the dangerous nature of the job be her end?
Kudos: 2





	Trials of a Ranger

A young fifteen year old, short and skinny girl fidgeted as she was tugging on her new school uniform, walking down a dirt path, wearing a green long sleeved vest over a blue collared shirt that had a yellow tie over it, blue waist high shorts with white cuffs and long brown boots, pulling a blue suitcase on wheels behind her.

Her name was Kaitlyn Jackson, though she preferred to be called Kate for short.

Once she finished tugging on her uniform, in an attempt to make it feel more comfortable, Kate reached up to make sure her brown pigtails were still tied in a pink headband.

Feeling the natural spikiness from her pigtails, Kate smiled a bit as she looked ahead with crystal blue eyes, continuing on the path towards her destination.

She came alone to the Almia Region for one simple reason.

To become a Pokemon Ranger.

To do that she had to leave her family in the Fiore Region to attend the Ranger School that accepted her credentials, though she had to go behind her families back to do that given the more dangerous nature of the work as at first they were quite against it.

Kate winced, remembering the lecture she got for doing that, even if they accepted it was what she wanted to do after a bit.

Still it was a rather long walk to even get to the school as she arrived at Pueltown by ship and had to walk through the Vien Forest to get to Vientown and then go east to head for where the school would be.

It was a three hour walk with her staying on the path to avoid agitating any of the Pokemon that were in the forest, thankfully the Pokemon were rather peaceful given how only an idiot would enrage them.

To do so would certainly be a death sentence, even if she did have the practice Capture Styler that would help if she needed it, it was sent to her when she sent her credentials in so she could get some practice in.

It’s a Practice one because it was different from both the School and the Official Capture Styler. Unlike those two, any Pokemon she used it on wouldn’t be befriended, just calmed down.

Good practice for the practical exam that happens upon arrival and prevents any potential student from playing around with the befriending application without supervision. It was also the reason why she was allowed to walk towards the school by herself instead of being escorted, something that made her happy.

“Whoa.” Kate said in awe, looking up to see a Beautifly and Butterfree fly overhead, followed by a Pidgey landing on a tree branch, giving her a look of curiosity before flying off.

She could even see an Aipom hanging upside down by the hand tail, giving her a playful smile before righting itself and running off.

Pokemon were more likely to approach humans peacefully in a Region like Almia given how Trainers were strictly forbidden from stepping foot in the Fiore, Almia and Oblivia Region, if they didn't bring any Pokeballs, making those Regions a safe haven for Pokemon to not be captured.

Trainers could visit if they didn’t bring any, but they were searched to make sure and if any were found, well their trainer license were suspended and they were turned away to never come back.

There were some exceptions, such as if any Elite Four members from certain regions visited for business, there was a whole bunch of politics in there that Kate had no idea what to think about, it’ll be something she’ll learn down the line.

It wasn’t perfect as sometimes poachers make it to the Regions, sneaking in but that was where the Rangers came in.

Not only do they keep the peace, but they also work with the Pokemon to keep the Region safe, going up against criminals, poachers, rampaging Pokemon, basically anything that disrupts the peace was handled by Rangers.

Now being a Ranger has been her dream for years, ever since she saw the Fiore Rangers all over the News saving the day whenever an incident happened and it was enough for her to be quite the fan girl whenever she sees a well known Ranger.

For example, there was that amazing Ranger named Lunick who ended up becoming one of the best Rangers of the Fiore in the last year, while Kate hasn’t met him personally she really followed his exploits rather closely.

Kate could already imagine being a Ranger as good as he was before she had to remind herself that she was barely a student, there was no way she was anywhere close to being just as good.

So she continued walking and before long she was starting to come across a bridge before hearing a weird noise.

Blinking at that, Kate looked around and that was right before she heard a shout that made her look below the bridge to see a group of four Poliwags surrounding a kid who looked to be six at most.

Eyes widening, Kate didn’t even think twice about jumping off the bridge, landing in the water that was ankle deep at most, the splash catching the attention of the tadpole Pokemon.

“Capture On!” Kate exclaimed, activating the Practice Styler with a grin on her face as the capture disc shot off the end of the stylus as she began to move it around the Poliwags while the kid watched in awe, never seeing a Ranger capture before.

She easily caught one of them before they blasted a water gun at her, leaving for Kate to force the Capture Disc to take the hit, damaging it a bit, but leaving her without injury before she caught two more, leaving the last one to run.

Giving a smile as the three she did capture calmed down, they left while she turned to deal with the kid.

“You alright?” Kate asked, kneeling down to check the kid over, seeing it was a young boy with short blonde hair and green eyes.

“Whoa, that was so cool!” The boy gushed, excited now that the danger was over with. “You captured those Poliwags like they were nothing!”

Kate smiled, feeling a tad bit embarrassed from the praise, but got serious. “What are you doing out here by yourself?” She asked, checking him for any injuries, only seeing him drenched with some mild scrapes.

“N-No reason, I wanted to see the Water Pokemon.” The boy was clearly lying, especially when he turned away from her, not meeting her eyes.

“Tell me the truth.” Kate said in a gentle tone, having a lot of practice when her sister was troubled by something. “I can’t help if you don’t say anything.”

The boy hesitated before coming clean. “I wanted to prove I was brave.” He admitted looking down.

Kate raised a brow, waiting for him to continue.

“The other kids always pick on me because I’m always scared, t-there’s a rumor that there’s a ghost that’s around this bridge so I thought if I could prove that wrong they would think I was brave, but while looking I fell into the water and scared the Poliwag.”

Well that certainly explained a lot, though Kate filed the ghost thing as a look into later when she wasn’t too busy.

So instead, she decided to help the kid out. “Who cares what they think?” She asked, making the kid look up at her in confusion.

“But they’re my friends.”

“Are they?” Kate asked, standing up to cross her arms. “If they pick on you then they’re not a friend, that sounds like a bully, you shouldn’t put yourself in danger to prove them wrong.”

If anything, the kid sounded like he needed better friends.

The kid looked rather thoughtful, if not a bit unsure which Kate figured was progress.

“Do you want me to walk you home?” Kate offered, ignoring the small voice in the back of her head that was reminding her about needing to make it to school.

No doubt she was going to be late after this unplanned stop.

The kid shook his head. “N-No thank you miss Ranger, I live in Chicole Village.”

“Kate,” Kate said simply, confusing the kid. “I’m no Ranger yet.”

“Really? But you were just like one!” The kid exclaimed, rather surprised.

That made Kate smile as she rubbed his hair in a playful manner. “Why thank you,” She said, rather happy about the comparison. “Be safe heading home alright?”

“I will.” The kid ran off before remembering something. “Oh yea, Mommy always said to be polite, I’m Ivan! Thank you again Miss Kate!”

With that he was gone while Kate smiled before getting out of the water, thankful that she wore her boots with the school uniform before she was back on the bridge, now rushing to get to school after grabbing her suitcase.

* * *

Eventually, Kate came across the school gates that were currently closed, showing the Ranger Symbol engraved on the lock, taking it in.

Even if she can’t see the school just yet due to the stairs beyond the gate, Kate was beside herself with excitement, just imagining how Ranger School would be.

Maybe they’ll get some field exercises in being Rangers?! Something to get some practice in?

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Kate found herself in a dilemma now that she was here.

… How does she get in?

There was no way past the gate and it was locked.

Was this a test for rangers? Does she wait here awkwardly for someone to realize she was here?

Biting her lower lip in thought, Kate looked around the gate before seeing the intercom system and nearly face palmed at her idiocy in not seeing it earlier due to her excitement.

So she pressed it and after a second a voice came through the Intercom.

“Ah you must be Kaitlyn Jackson,” The voice said, leading Kate to see the camera nearby. “You’re just in time, another few seconds and you would’ve been late.”

Kate smiled, relief flooding through her. “Sorry, got a bit lost on my way.”

She didn’t think mentioning the incident with the Poliwags were important given how it was handled.

“Lost? It’s a straight line if you stayed on the path,” The voice muttered before replying back. “Well no matter, just come up the steps and you’ll see a building to the left of the school, it’s the only building besides the school itself. That’s where your Entrance Exam will be.”

Kate gave a nod, understanding that as she felt rather nervous.

She knew it was going to be a practical exam because she already took the written one and passed it rather easily.

‘ _ Alright it’s just a simple capture from what I’m told. _ ’ Kate told herself as the gate began to open up. ‘ _ I can do this. _ ’

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Kate forced a look of confidence on her face as she climbed up the cobblestone steps before the confidence fell on seeing the school for the first time.

It was huge, stretching across the field in width while being at least three stories tall, a huge bell tower at the top, completing the look as Kate stared in awe.

For the next six months she’ll be here.

Term started two months ago, so she was a rather late enrollment and had six months to both catch up and get ready to graduate.

Looking to the right, Kate saw fields of farm soil as well as Pokemon such as Taillow, Pichu, Budew and Bidoof, all running around and playing.

It was rather adorable really.

But then she looked to the other side and saw the lone building and knew that was the one where she needed to go.

Making it to the building, Kate knocked and after waiting a few seconds, she gained a confused look on not hearing an answer so she knocked again.

Once more there was no answer and now she was getting a bit concerned.

So she tested the door knob only to find it unlocked and walked into the rather dark room. “H-Hello?” She called out rather nervously-.

“Chu!” Kate’s eyes widened as she quickly used the capture line to block the Thundershock that nearly hit her.

It damaged it further but Kate would rather have a damaged Styler then being electrocuted like that.

Standing there on all fours was a Pikachu, the yellow furred mouse glaring at her with sparks emanating from the red sacs on its cheeks before it fired another Thundershock with Kate rolling out of the way.

The nervousness she showed earlier disappeared as she was now concentrating as she sent the capture line out, easily capturing the Pikachu before it could try to shock her a third time.

Seeing the Pikachu calmed down, Kate sighed in relief before wondering what that was about?

**_*Clap. Clap. Clap.*_ **

The noise echoed around the room with Kate tensing up, not expecting it, or for the clapping to be rather slow as a dark chuckle emanated from the room. “Well done, not only did you block the Thundershock, you captured the Pikachu in under seven seconds, that has to be a new record.”

With that said the lights suddenly came on, making Kate wince, closing her eyes due to the sudden change before slowly opening them to see the Pikachu now standing next to a man dressed in a blue uniform, sporting a demented looking grin that scared her.

“As such you’re now a member of our army and with you, world domination will be ours.” The man gave a laugh while Kate took a step back, unsure of how to handle this, not hearing the door behind her open up.

“ _ MR. KAPLAN! _ ” A new voice shouted, making Kate jump while the now identified Kaplan let out a small squeal of surprise, some fear on his face. “How many times have I told you not to pull that stupid joke?!”

Turning towards the new voice, Kate saw a young woman with shoulder-length auburn hair, wearing a green blouse and a white pencil skirt, glaring daggers at the man who gave a sheepish chuckle.

“Oh come on, with the faces they make, how can I not?” Mr. Kaplan asked with a grin showing that the whole take over the world spiel was just a joke. “The faces the students make are something to be treasured.”

The woman just rolled her eyes at hearing that before narrowing them further. “And while we’re at it what were you thinking having Pikachu aim a Thundershock at her?! What if she didn’t block it?”

“Pikachu held back,” Mr. Kaplan defended with the mouse giving a cry of confirmation. “I wanted to test her reflexes, after all Rangers need to be prepared for anything, even if they don’t expect it, speaking of which nicely done, not many would be students think of blocking with the capture line.”

Kate didn’t say anything about seeing a News Report of Ranger Lunick doing the same thing and she was trying to emulate him.

Instead she just smiled. “Thank you… So we’re not taking over the world Pinky?”

Mr. Kaplan blinked before laughing. “Been awhile since I’ve heard that reference… Brain.” He said playing along while the woman just hung her head at how the two were being.

“If you’re quite done, we should continue now that the Entrance Exam is over.”

“Alright,” Mr. Kaplan gave a short cough. “Congratulations and welcome to the Almia Ranger Academy, I can already tell that you’re going to go far kid.”

Reaching into his pocket, the man pulled out the official School Styler and tossed it to Kate who fumbled with it, trying to catch it out of the air.

“As such that is yours now and we’ll take the Practice Styler back.” Holding his hand out, Kaplan was surprised about something when Kate handed it to him. “Huh, didn’t think Pikachu did that much damage.”

Kate looked away, obviously thinking back to the Poliwag before while the woman took it from there. “Now that you’re a part of this school, allow me to introduce myself,” She said smiling at Kate. “I’m your Homeroom Teacher Ms. April, pleased to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too ma’am.” Kate bowed her head politely.

Ms. April gave a nod before gesturing for Kate to follow her. “Now let’s go introduce you to your class.”

Hearing that made Kate smile rather confidently.

Now this was something she could handle.

As they left, Mr. Kaplan waved after them. “Enjoy your new school life!”

Once they were gone, he was back to looking at the Practice Styler.

“Seriously, Pikachu, did you hold back or not?” He asked, seeing the damage to it as Pikachu gave him a look.

* * *

It didn’t take too long to get to the classroom as it was the first door to the left inside the building while the local caretaker who was named Janice was taking Kate’s suitcase to the girls dormitory.

Right now, Kate was waiting outside as Ms. April walked in to introduce her and she couldn’t help but press her ear against the door, hearing what was going on due to how thin the walls were.

“Good Morning class.” Ms. April’s voice was easy to identify before Kate heard a chorus of students answer back. “Now as I mentioned yesterday, we have a new member of the class.”

There was a split second of silence before questions erupted from the other students, excitement easily showing.

“Is it a guy or a girl? Which is it?”

“Is the new student cute?”

“Are they here to be a Ranger, Mechanic or an Operator?”

“Where are they from?”

“Do they look like a celebrity?”

Swallowing a bit nervously, Kate forced herself to look confident as she only had one chance to make a good first impression right as Ms. April called out for her to come in.

So she opened the door, making the students turn towards her as she took one step and promptly did a face plant after tripping over the doorway.

Laughter erupted from a nearby red headed boy who coughed as Ms. April gave him a look while Kate quickly pushed herself up, red faced in embarrassment at the failure of a first impression but she rolled with it and walked towards the front of the class as some of the whispers started.

“Oh, it is a girl.”

“She’s pretty cute, but seems like a total klutz.”

“Did you see that trip? Pretty hilarious.”

Making it to the front, Kate said nothing as Ms. April placed a hand on her shoulder. “Our new friend here has come all the way from the Fiore Region to become a Pokemon Ranger. Go on and tell them your name.”

Ignoring the embarrassment from earlier, Kate gave a smile. “My name’s Kate, it’s nice to meet you all!”

“Now let’s all make Kate feel welcomed, as I understand it she scored quite well on the Entrance Exam.”

Hearing that, the red headed boy seemed to perk up a bit, having a grin on his face, something that Ms. April noticed.

“What’s with the grin Keith?” She asked, making the boy splutter and look away, leaving for Ms. April to continue. “Anyways we should get you seated… There’s an empty seat right next to Keith, go ahead and sit there.”

Kate gave a nod and did so as Keith glanced her way, the two making eye contact for a second before Ms. April continued.

“Alright, that’s enough of me treating you like a regular student, from now on you’re all my students, people I take pride in teaching,” Ms. April looked at all of them. “For today class will be a free-study class, tomorrow we’ll get back to normal classes. But first Kate.”

The new girl glanced at her teacher in confusion.

“You’ll need someone to give you a tour of the school… Let’s see-Rhythmi!” She called out as a young girl with poofy blonde hair perked up with a friendly smile. “Do you mind giving Kate a tour of the school today?”

“Not at all.” Rhythmi agreed easily enough.

“Alright, if anyone needs me I’ll be in the Staff Room.” Ms. April said, walking out.

The second she left, Kate found her desk surrounded by the rest of the students, all of them curious about the new addition to their class as they began to bombard her with questions.

“Where in the Fiore Region are you from?”

“What’s it like there?”

“Did any of the incidents last year happen near you?”

“What type of Pokemon do you like?”

“Are your pigtails naturally spiky?”

There were so many questions coming that Kate was at a loss for how to answer before Keith spoke up.

“Hey new girl I forgot your name,” Keith said, that sentence making Kate glower his way. “But how long did it take for you to catch the Pikachu? Like an hour?”

Feeling insulted by that jab at her skills, Kate answered rather heatedly. “Seven seconds.”

It got quiet at that given how the record was nine seconds.

And the one who set it was Keith who gaped at hearing that his own record was broken.

“No it wasn’t.” Keith denied, unsure if she was telling the truth or messing with him.

If she was telling the truth however, that meant he needed to keep on his toes.

Kate just crossed her arms and gave a grin, not confirming or denying it.

“Just ignore Keith, he’s a bit of a show-off, instead you should be paying attention to me,” Rhythmi said, gaining Kate’s attention despite Keith’s indigent look at being called a show-off. “I’m not here to be a Ranger, I’m training to be an Operator, that way if Keith does become a Ranger I can order him around like a servant.”

“What do you mean if?!” Keith demanded when another guy nearby whispered.

“That’s where he drew the line? Not the servant part?”

The guy's friend scoffed. “She’s only kidding… I think.” He then shrugged. “Still the new girl might surprise us if she actually did set the new record.”

“She’s out of your league man.”

“S-Shut up!”

“Okay first off on our tour is obviously our classroom, never-I repeat, never make Ms. April angry.” Rhythmi warned with everyone in the class nodding in agreement. “As Keith can attest to, she can be scary when made angry.”

“Why are you calling me out? You’ve made her mad too!” Keith pointed out as Rhythmi tilted her head as if in thought.

“I have?”

Keith felt his eye twitch before shaking his head. “Screw it.” He muttered, finding her rather annoying.

“Anyways, come on I’ll show you the rest of the school.” Rhythmi offered, taking Kate by the hand and leading her out the door. “You’ll love it here.”

As they left, Keith huffed and sat back down in thought.

If this new girl actually did beat his record, that meant she was either very lucky or had the skills to back it up despite the face plant.

He needs to see for himself though and deep down he was hoping she did have the skills.

After all, if he was ever going to join the Top Rangers, which was his main dream, that meant he needed a rival to keep him on his toes.

And none of the other students in the class were able to keep up with him.

**_To Be Continued…_ **

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, another new story but this one is about the Pokemon Ranger Franchise, more specifically the Shadows of Almia one. I was going through my stuff and found my old copy which brought back a ton of memories, especially when I replayed it and frankly I wanted to write my own version of it.
> 
> Hopefully you liked how I’ve fleshed out a few things in the beginning, including adding a bit more here and there. I’ve been thinking hard on how much I wanted to do with this story and I have so much planned.
> 
> As such I haven't revealed a whole lot, but enough to hopefully keep others interested such as the politics of the three Ranger Regions in keeping the Pokemon there safe, helps explains why you never see a Trainer at any time right?


End file.
